Kazakhstan: The model of nuclear disarmament, Idrissov

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Twenty years ago today, our young country took a large step in the international arena with our accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As a non-nuclear state, it was a formal sign of Kazakhstan's determination to work for a world free of nuclear weapons - an ambition which has helped define our country since we first gained independence in 1991.
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There were, of course, very good reasons for this commitment. The threat from nuclear weapons, as our President Nursultan Nazabayev has said, strikes a deep chord within our country.

For forty years, Kazakhstan was a test site for nuclear weapons. The fall-out from these tests at Semipalatinsk - of which over 100 were above ground - has left a terrible legacy. A generation later, the deaths and deformities continue. The threat for us from nuclear weapons is not abstract but all too real, said Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov in an article published on Friday on the website of Al Jazeera.

This is why, in August of 1991, months before we attained full independence - and to the joy of our people - President Nazabayev ordered the closure of the Semipalatinsk site. At Kazakhstan's urging, the date of August 29 has now been commemorated officially by the United Nations as the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Kazakhstan followed this move with an even more historic initiative when we voluntarily renounced the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal, which we inherited on the break-up of the Soviet Union. No country has done more to bring the goals of the NPT closer. Ever since those early days, we have continued to work tirelessly to achieve the goals of the treaty. We have encouraged countries across Central Asia to come together to declare the region a nuclear-free zone - a model for wider progress. And we have used our influence in a wide range of international forums to improve nuclear safety. Our increasing international authority in this field - and our good relations with all parties - also led last year to Kazakhstan being chosen to host critical talks between Iran and the international community over its nuclear ambitions. We are glad that real progress has been made, which opens the way to reduce tensions across the wider region. There is, however, a great deal more to do. We remain absolutely convinced that only a completely nuclear-free world can prevent the deliberate or accidental use of these terrifying weapons. With the spread of violent extremism over the past 20 years, the threat we face from the doomsday weapons is, in many ways, greater than it ever was in the darkest days of the Cold War.

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